2005, Form B. One
of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in
which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama struggles to free
himself or herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others.
Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to
enhance the meaning of the work.
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Bernard Marx, a character of Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, is ultimately driven to destruction by his desire for power. Through his use of foils and symbols, Huxley sends the message that power is at odds with the ability to know the "truth."
In the vastly different society of Brave New World, based in the twenty-sixth century, Bernard struggles to fit into the social structure that is engineered by the government to create a "happier" society. He doesn't fit into the caste he was decanted (artificially born) into, and is a social outcast for much of his life in a world where solitude is dreaded and even regarded as immoral.
Huxley uses Helmholtz, another high-caste and intelligent man, as a foil to Bernard. Helmholtz is a very popular man who fits in extremely well but he grows discontented with all of the low pleasures that others in society value. He enjoys conversing with Bernard, or rather speaking to him without much response, and is everything that Bernard wishes he could be.
After going through the misery of not being accepted by the world and developing a relationship with Helmholtz, Bernard takes a trip into the Savage Reservation and finds a very peculiar young man who was born of a "civilized" mother, a character referred to as "the Savage" by almost all characters but someone who is well versed in Shakespeare. Upon returning to London society, Bernard gains status and power through the desire of everyone else to meet "the Savage," or John as Helmholtz properly calls him. Bernard uses this power to sleep with many women and to gain influential contacts and he lords his new-found power over Helmholtz's head, although Helmholtz seems entirely disinterested. This contrast is accentuated in the conclusion, in which both Helmholtz and Bernard are exiled to far away islands to live with like-minded people who have been similarly punished. When all of his dreams come crashing down, Bernard turns to drugs to try to regain happiness, while Helmholtz is delighted and accepts his exile excitedly. It is made clear that true happiness is only found through the pursuit of truth, while Bernard finds only despair in the pursuit of power.
Symbols are everywhere in Brave New World, from the replacement of "Lord" with "Ford" in all instances to the soma (drugs) with which everyone is so obsessed. The use of Shakespeare, banned in the future society, to represent everything that has been lost by civilization is hard to ignore, especially as it becomes a focal point for the entire second half of the novel in the discussions between John, Helmholtz and a World Controller named Mustapha Mond. All of these characters recognize the artistry of Shakespeare, but they all view it differently. John enters a state of rapture when reading it and loves it passionately, while Helmholtz finds it amusing due to the cultural differences he encounters in it. Mond also finds it to be incredibly great literature, but he long ago gave up the search for "truth" in order to try to preserve "happiness" for the rest of the society, persuaded by having been offered a position as one of the most powerful men in the world. In their common love of Shakespeare, these men agree that there are commonalities in the values between the old and new societies and Mond even acknowledges that the world might be better if seeking knowledge (the truth) is its focus. However, the power that he has gained changes his view on this all important issue. Huxley uses this contrast explained in arguments over Shakespeare to send the reader the message that power for its own sake is bad and corrupting.
In Brave New World, Huxley provides a critique of the power-hungry and mourns the value of happiness over knowledge. He sends these messages through the use of foils and satire involving the central characters of Bernard and John.
_______________________________
Bernard Marx, a character of Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, is ultimately driven to destruction by his desire for power. Through his use of foils and symbols, Huxley sends the message that power is at odds with the ability to know the "truth."
In the vastly different society of Brave New World, based in the twenty-sixth century, Bernard struggles to fit into the social structure that is engineered by the government to create a "happier" society. He doesn't fit into the caste he was decanted (artificially born) into, and is a social outcast for much of his life in a world where solitude is dreaded and even regarded as immoral.
Huxley uses Helmholtz, another high-caste and intelligent man, as a foil to Bernard. Helmholtz is a very popular man who fits in extremely well but he grows discontented with all of the low pleasures that others in society value. He enjoys conversing with Bernard, or rather speaking to him without much response, and is everything that Bernard wishes he could be.
After going through the misery of not being accepted by the world and developing a relationship with Helmholtz, Bernard takes a trip into the Savage Reservation and finds a very peculiar young man who was born of a "civilized" mother, a character referred to as "the Savage" by almost all characters but someone who is well versed in Shakespeare. Upon returning to London society, Bernard gains status and power through the desire of everyone else to meet "the Savage," or John as Helmholtz properly calls him. Bernard uses this power to sleep with many women and to gain influential contacts and he lords his new-found power over Helmholtz's head, although Helmholtz seems entirely disinterested. This contrast is accentuated in the conclusion, in which both Helmholtz and Bernard are exiled to far away islands to live with like-minded people who have been similarly punished. When all of his dreams come crashing down, Bernard turns to drugs to try to regain happiness, while Helmholtz is delighted and accepts his exile excitedly. It is made clear that true happiness is only found through the pursuit of truth, while Bernard finds only despair in the pursuit of power.
Symbols are everywhere in Brave New World, from the replacement of "Lord" with "Ford" in all instances to the soma (drugs) with which everyone is so obsessed. The use of Shakespeare, banned in the future society, to represent everything that has been lost by civilization is hard to ignore, especially as it becomes a focal point for the entire second half of the novel in the discussions between John, Helmholtz and a World Controller named Mustapha Mond. All of these characters recognize the artistry of Shakespeare, but they all view it differently. John enters a state of rapture when reading it and loves it passionately, while Helmholtz finds it amusing due to the cultural differences he encounters in it. Mond also finds it to be incredibly great literature, but he long ago gave up the search for "truth" in order to try to preserve "happiness" for the rest of the society, persuaded by having been offered a position as one of the most powerful men in the world. In their common love of Shakespeare, these men agree that there are commonalities in the values between the old and new societies and Mond even acknowledges that the world might be better if seeking knowledge (the truth) is its focus. However, the power that he has gained changes his view on this all important issue. Huxley uses this contrast explained in arguments over Shakespeare to send the reader the message that power for its own sake is bad and corrupting.
In Brave New World, Huxley provides a critique of the power-hungry and mourns the value of happiness over knowledge. He sends these messages through the use of foils and satire involving the central characters of Bernard and John.
Hey! i'm glad you were able to get your posts to show back up. I haven't ever read this book, but it does sound interesting. I think that it was a solid decision to pick this novel for the prompt. You kind of lost me in the fifth paragraph. In my opinion, that paragraph doesn't seem that necessary. I find it strange that you started talking about Mond, when the prompt wants the writing to focus on one character and how his strong desire for power affected the novel as a whole. I might be puzzled only because I haven't read it before. Even though I think you did a good job of analyzing the symbols in the novel, I feel that... for someone reading about this novel the first time (like me), it's a bit difficult to follow or focus to the prompt.
ReplyDeleteChris, I read this book sophomore year and completely forgot about it until now. Your essay goes over important ideas well, but I don't think it really answers the prompt directly. I agree with Gloria about the 5th paragraph, it just kind of interrupts your style of writing for this particular essay. It makes good and clear points, but they don't show much about his strive for power, it just helps to explain the book better. I think you clearly know what you're writing about and trying to get across, but if you organize it a little more and cut out unnecessary things that aren't directly related to the prompt it will be very well written!
ReplyDeleteHaving never read it, I agree with Gloria that it gets a bit confusing. You have a lot of great ideas presented throughout but not all of them seem necessary. You clearly have a good understanding of the book and how power is involved I think your problem is organization. For every paragraph make sure you're keeping the main idea in mind (except maybe when summarizing the story). Aside from this, I agree with Gloria that your analysis of the symbols looks great! The information about Shakespeare was interesting it just took awhile to get back to the prompt.
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